Immigration Minister and Newark MP Robert Jenrick defends Home Secretary Suella Braverman's use of word 'invasion' when describing illegal immigration on BBC Breakfast News
Newark MP Robert Jenrick has defended Home Secretary Suella Braverman's use of the word 'invasion' to describe migrants crossing the English Channel.
The newly-appointed Immigration Minister appeared on several programmes this morning, including BBC Breakfast.
Suella Braverman had told MPs that she was determined to stop an 'invasion' of migrants, in reference to those crossing the English Channel from Europe to reach the UK.
Mr Jenrick defended the use of the word on the morning news programme, saying: "I think it's a word that was expressing the sheer scale of illegal migration that we are seeing as a country right now, we can't brush that under the carpet.
"We would be doing a disservice to the public if we weren't honest and straightforward about the scale of the challenge that we are facing,"
When asked if he would have used the phrase invasion by host Sally Nugent, Mr Jenrick said: "I think it's a phrase that expresses very clearly the concern that millions of people feel across the country.
"Of course, when you're in my position you have to choose your words carefully but I think the scale of the challenge is very significant.
"We are I'm afraid seeing our asylum system being overwhelmed by the numbers choosing to cross the channel.
"I think what you're trying to say is that the Home Secretary's approach is not the right one.
"I would disagree, because I think millions of people across the country, the majority certainly of my constituents in Newark and Nottinghamshire feel very strongly about this issue."
During his interview on BBC Breakfast, the Newark MP was also pressed on conditions at the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent after an immigration watchdog highlighted dangerous conditions at the site.
Less than a week into his new Home Office job, Mr Jenrick said: "The conditions at Manston are not as we would want them to be and there is a task for us now to improve them.
"The issue now is the sheer number of migrants crossing the channel in recent weeks and that is putting immense pressure on the infrastructure that was created.
"We never planned or created infrastructure for 40,000 people to cross the channel in small boats in a single year alone and it may well be more before the end of 2022.
"What we have to do at Manston is ensure it returns to a well-run, compassionate, humane site which can manage around one to two thousand individuals, at the moment it has significantly more than that.
"We are working intensely now, every day, to reduce that population and I hope that we will see in a short period it get back to the kind of operation that I would want it to be so that we can look after those people appropriately and move them on to other accommodation."
